Girls trip to Denmark - June 28 to July 1

In May I bought ferry tickets to Denmark. This was when Ingvild was still planning to go to college in Copenhagen. Anyway, the ticket was non-refundable so even though Ingvild has changed her mind about college in Denmark, the girls and I took the opportunity to take a trip together and visit my dear friend Ninna at her summer cottage.



Day 1:
I love my new car! It is compact, comfortable and economic, and it has cruise controll! I let Ingvild practice drive through all the road work and detours on the E6 as well as through Oslo – a couple of hours of varied driving – so she got some good practice toward her next driving test on July 16th. Then I drove for a couple of hours, and Irene drove the last bit in Sweden to the Ferry in Gøteborg, and after the ferry about halfway to Hvalpsund. I had google map'ed the whole route, but missed having a proper road map. In Gøteborg we missed our turn, almost got lost, worried that we were late, but it all worked out.



The 3 hour ferry ride was just the perfect length. Just time to have a coffee (after standing endlessly in line), surf the internet – had a nice chat with Tor Idar – and a nap in the sun on the deck. We were starving when we got to Denmark and stopped at a cafeteria for a truckers burger: huge hamburger, mountain of fries + salad bar – we weren't able to eat half of it.

Arrived at the summerhouse around 10 pm to be greeted by Ninna and Lillefix, her super cute danish-swedish farmdog. After a glass of wine the girls went to bed. Ninna and I walked the dog in sunset along the beach. Lillefix ate shells and seaweed. Then we sat and talked about the death of my father and Ninnas mother, about our ex's and our struggles as mothers... talked until 1 am.



Day 2:
I am sleeping on the matress in the living room. Lillefix wanted to sleep on my feet – I kicked her off, nor was she allowed to sleep on my bed when I'm not in it either. Insulted she curled up on the sofa.

Today was warm, calm, the sun shining, birds singing. I woke up at 7 as usual. Tormod called shortly after. How nice to hear from him! This morning Ninna and I walked Lillefix to a riding camp with a pasture full of horses which came to the fence to eat clover out of my hand. We had a breakfast of smoothie, cherries, melon and hot rolls in the garden. Ninna and I sat and read while the girls worked out on the grass. When they were all showered and ready we went shopping in the nearby town. I spent a long time looking for a present to bring back to Tor Idar. Hovered for a long time over a cute toothpick dispenser, but decided against it – it was very expensive and we don't have the right kind of toothpicks at home. After lunch the girls went to the beach to work on their tan. Ninna and I took naps, and read in the garden before walking the dog along the beach to find the girls and invite them home for dinner.




Ninna is the master of quick and delicious dinners: oven baked filet of trout in individual foil packages, oven baked cherrytomatoes with pesto, new potatoes, warm salad, raw zucchini, brokkoli... I love her diet: rich in fruit and vegetables, with mostly organic foods.
I was getting a sore throat and headache (again!) and just sat around this evening watching «the office» before going to bed early – at 10pm.

Walked on the beach with Lillefix this evening, listening to the waves lapping on the shore, the sea birds calling and the wind sighing in the branches while walking back through the oak woods.




Day 3:
Cloudy this morning with a tendency to rain, when I walked the dog. Ninna took us north along the coast after breakfast. Here it was mostly sunny but windy, the waves were white-capped. We went first to Løgster where we visited the maritime museum, with art, ships, tanks showing how the ecosystems have changed in the limfjord over the years, and a tank of petting fish: flounders, starfish, crabs, eels and a lobster in a corner to which the other fish gave a wide berth.



We had lunch at a brazilian restaurant, that served the most delicious smoothies and filled pancakes. I had their seafood special: bread, a salad and a shell filled with a shrimp and mussel stew! Several painters have their galleries and ateliers here along the seawall, and we looked at the art before heading back.





On the way we stopped at Vitskøl Abbey, a cistercian monastary from the middle ages. The same that is mentioned in the Arn books by Jan Guilleau as the place where Arn was brought up. The monastary is more or less intact, but the church is ruined and there is a lovely abbey herb garden with all sorts of flowers and herbs...




Day 4:
Return to Norway. After an outdoor breakfast and last walk on the beach while the girls did the dishes - today again, the sun is blazing from a cloudless sky - we got on our way. We decided to splitt up the driving as follows: Irene drove in Denmark, I in Sweden, and Ingvild in Norway. We got to the Ferry in plenty of time, and I went and sat on the edge of the dock watching the jellyfish and after a while the ferry as it arrived.

The ferry trip was spent for my part lunching on grilled fish, sweetpotato and salad, napping on the sun deck, shopping for chocolate for Tor Idar and chatting with him on the free internet.




The drive home took longer than anticipated. There was an accident on the E6 in Sweden and we got detoured for an hour through the Swedish forest and farmland, among others along a road that was not even really wide enouph for 2 cars. On this the big trucks had to pass each other, with millimeters to spare and one wheel off the shoulder - thank god it hadn't rained in a while so the shoulder was dry and firm, still the traffic snailed along at 20 km/hr. We had our picknic on the swedish side of the border.





Ingvild drove very well through the Oslo traffic. This side of Oslo the road work started with a detour through Eidsvoll and over Minnesund. We got off the E6 at Strandlykkja, which turned out to be unnessesarily early as the other entries, which were closed on Monday, had been reopened. Ah well. We arrived home at 10 pm.



Reflections:
It was great to see my friend Ninna - it's been a long time since we had time to catch up on stuff.
It was also fun travelling with the girls: they are so affectionate, positive, and playfull. Yet sometimes I feel old in their company, a stranger in their culture.
"The feeling that I'm
Losing her forever
And without really
Entering her world
I'm glad whenever I
Can share her laughter..."
(ABBA in "Slipping Through my Fingers")